Article XII.—Retrospective Review.—Tractatus de Ventriculo et Intestinis, cui prœmittitur alius, de Partibus continentibus in Genere, et in Specie de iis Abdominis. Authore Francisco Glissonio, &c. &c. Lond. 1677, 4to.
As it is not our intention to confine our remarks to the work above mentioned, we shall deem no apology necessary for the somewhat excursive nature of this article, which would not answer our present purpose, if we were obliged to follow the costive details of the venerable Francis Glisson, whose villanous bad style, and execrable latin, are only to be excused or overlooked in consideration of the great importance of the topics which he handles, and the profound reflections which he makes on them. Glisson is recognised as author of the physiological term Irritability, and as the assertor of the inherent activity of matter. Haller says of him in his XIth book. "Franciscus Glisson, qui universis elementis corporum, vim motricem tribuit, etiam nostram vim, Irritabilitatem vocavit," &c.
He was a native of Dorsetshire, and was appointed professor of physic at Oxford in 1627. This post he occupied during forty years, and is much distinguished by his treatise de vita naturæ, and by the work which forms our caption. As he is the first who used the physiological term irritability, we have thought that some researches on this subject in general, and more particularly on his peculiar sentiments, might profitably occupy our retrospective department; for it is very evident that this subject is in general but vaguely discussed, both in medical writings and conversation.
The ancient philosophers did not agree among themselves as to the nature and origin of matter; some of them considering it as eternal in its essence, and others as mutable and changeable in form. The theory of atoms, published by Democritus, and subsequently carried out so elaborately by Epicurus and his disciples, seems to have reached even to our own times, with an increasing reputation and acceptance. According to this theory, the kinds of matter, or elements, must he regarded as infinitely various. Heraclitus, who taught philosophy about 550 years before Christ, considered all things as derived from an elemental heat or fire;[25] a philosophy which seems to us to have formed the basis of the Hippocratic doctrines of life. Like Heraclitus, Hippocrates tells us, that the calidum was the first principle of things, and that by an expansion or extension of itself, it constitutes all the objects of the material world. He expresses himself in the following manner. That which we call warmth, or heat, seems to me to be something immortal; something which comprehends all things, which sees and knows all things, as well present as future. Thus assuming as a basis, that the calidum is an almighty, all-wise being, or in other words, a God, all in all, the cosmogony was developed as follows: Chaos he regarded as that condition of the calidum, which preceded any exertion of the Almighty faculties. In emerging from the chaotic state, the greatest part of the heat having assumed the uppermost place, formed the æther; another part having gained the lowermost place, constituted earth; a third portion, midway between earth and æther, became air; and a fourth part, establishing itself between the two latter, became water. So that by means of the extension of this all-wise, elemental calidum, we have the four elements, earth, air, fire, and water, out of which are ultimately composed all the aggregates of the material world.[26] Now, to apply this general principle to the formation of the living being man, who seems to be a sort of microcosm in himself, we are told, that that portion of heat which remained with earth, being expanded and spread abroad in divers places, in some more, in others less, the earth became dry, and something like membrane or pellicle was formed; the matters contained in which, being heated as by a sort of putrefaction, some parts became bone, some nerve, some veins and their contents, and some formed the cavities and their contents, as the urinary bladder, for example.[27]
The full exposition of the opinions of Hippocrates was left for Galen, and we prefer to make reference to him on this theory, which by his genius and talent was so much embellished, that it became the glory of science, exercising an almost undisputed authority during a long lapse of ages. Indeed the gigantic intellect of this great man, still continues to shed its vast illumination over the world of science, particularly that of medicine; which, if it owes its birth to the divine old man of Cos, is not less indebted for its nurture and growth to the celebrated native of Pergamus. Galen is the facile princeps of physicians. His astonishing industry, perseverance, and acquirements, his ingenious arguments, and persuasive eloquence, give him an unquestionable claim to the title of princeps, so long accorded to him; and those who even in the present enlightened period, will study his works, shall find themselves almost irresistibly led away by the charm of his suasion.
Galien est le seul des anciens qui ait donné un corps complet de medecine: Quoique formé des débris de toutes les doctrines précédentes, son systeme offre cependant, malgré les contradictions ou il tombe assez souvent, une unité remarquable dans toutes ses parties; un ensemble séduisant, qu'un genie de l'ordre le plus élevé pouvoit seul imprimer à un pareil édifice. Ramenant tout à un petit nombre de principes généraux, qui s'ils ne peuvent satisfaire la raison, fournissent du moins une réponse facile a tout, ce systême dut être adopté avec empressement, et sa fortune ne peut étonner.—Biographie Medicale, Tom. IV.
Galen may perhaps be justly regarded as an eclectic; but it is manifest, that he mainly walked after the steps of his great predecessor, and recognised model. The following passage seems to contain ideas not much differing from those of Hippocrates which we have presented above: "Who is there, says he, that judging from the origin and constitution of animated beings, doth not immediately infer the existence of a mind, possessed of wonderful energies, extending to, and pervading every portion of the universe! We every where perceive animals procreated, which are possessed of the most admirable structure, and yet what portion of the universe can be more ignoble than this earth of ours? Yet a grand intelligence is seen to have reached even it from the celestial bodies, which for their beauty are so astonishing, and which, as they are for purity far more excellent than our earth, so they are the seats of intelligences, far more pure and perfect than those which inhabit these lower regions." He proceeds to remark, that animals, worthy of the greatest admiration, are produced out of the slime and mud of ponds and ditches, and even in putrefying vegetables, which, as they indicate the miraculous properties of their author, also show us in what estimation we should hold the higher orders of being. "We may even perceive a rational nature in men, if we refer to such examples as Plato, Aristotle, Hipparchus, Archimedes, and many others. If, therefore, in such a colluvies as the human body, (for by what better name can we characterize a mixture of blood, bile, and phlegm,) a mind is formed of such great and excellent faculties, what must we think of the excellence of that which exists in the superior bodies?"
It may be said that Galen expresses, in these passages, the Platonic dogma of an anima mundi. But they certainly agree with the sentiments of Hippocrates; and whether he derived them from the former or the latter, matters not, as both of them have invested matter with certain qualities, which render it active, whether it be so essentially or by the act of the Creator. Galen may be also regarded as partially an Epicurean; for he insists that there are several sorts of matter, or as we should say, several elements; but he differs from that sect again in affirming for it a passible quality. To show that there must be more than one element, or kind of matter, he says, that if there was only one element, or a unit, it would be impassible; it could undergo no change whatever. For there would be nothing by which it could be made to suffer any alteration, or into which it could be altered. Whatever is changed, is changed into something else, and whatever suffers, suffers from something extrinsic: therefore he affirms, that of necessity there must be several sorts of matter, or elements. He says, "there are only two theories on this subject deserving our attention; one of which affirms that sentient bodies are composed of elements possessing the faculty, (cum patiendi tum sentiendi,) both of suffering and perceiving an alteration;" while the other affirms that such bodies are formed (ex patibilibus, sed sensu expertibus) out of passible, but not sentient elements. Neither of these doctrines does he consider tenable, so long as only one element is affirmed, as earth, air, or fire alone, which could never become capable of that great variety of actions we witness in living bodies: but, admit several elements, and we suppose that the mutual interchange of powers would yield a compound body, capable of all the vital phenomena. Such, therefore, says he, as consider the human body to be composed of fire, air, earth, and water, mutually transmuted, alternated, and reduced to a given temperament, and thereby vested with a sentient faculty, speak reasonably; and it is evident that there must be more than one element, and that these elements are passible bodies.
Plato had taught, that, though all bodies are formed of matter, yet matter itself is not a body; and the same idea is conveyed by Aristotle, in the Lib. de partibus animal. & earum causis, II c.i. "Prima statui potest ea quæ ex primordiis conficitur, iis quæ nonnulli elementa appellant terram dico, aquam aërem & ignem: sed melius fortasse dici potest ex virtutibus confici elementorum, iisque non omnibus sed ut ante expositum est humiditus enim, & siccitas, & caliditas, and frigiditas, materia sunt corporum compositorum."
Galen also states, that in fire there exists a perfect heat and dryness, in earth a perfect coldness and dryness, and so on of the rest of the elements. For you cannot expect to find in nature a perfectly simple and isolated element; because they are always mixed two or more together. Hence the real terram, aquam, aërem, and ignem, become rather a metaphysical abstraction, than a real entity. That is to say, matter has no real existence, but is mere quality; for earth is not the mere representation of dry or siccum; it is the representative of siccitas, or dryness: fire is not the eidolon of calidum, but of caliditas; water of humiditas, and air of frigiditas. Yet all these elements are in nature possessed of more than one property. Fire is hot and dry, earth is dry and cold, water is cold and moist, &c. If we refer, however, to his account of the soul, we perceive at once, that these inseparable qualities of the elements are the real active agents of life. He plainly declares, that the soul is the mere result of organization, and perishes with the structure in which it dwells. He thinks, "corporis temperiem censendum est." As to the active powers of the four primary qualities, he says, "At mihi quidem tam venæ, quam reliquarum particularum singulæ, ob certam quandam temperiem quam ex quatuor sunt qualitatibus nactæ, hoc vel illo modo videntur agere."—De nat. fac. I.